By The Venerable Idowu Adewakun
To age is to grow in time or with time. As day breaks and night comes, a day goes and a day is added to the age of everything that exists. Both living and nonliving things age. We do not determine our age, time does and aging is universal as everything passes through time on the same parameter. The table, cup, wrist watch, children adults, trees, grass and animals in your premise that scales the 24 hours in a day are a day older in age.
Falling is a continuous downward motion and movement. So falling might take one down without a stop if there are no barriers or obstacles or preventatives to stop the slide.
The world of God is phenomenal, there are many things happening at the same time and some are happening in opposite directions. As some are falling, some are growing. As some are going forward, some are going backwards. Some are also stagnant with no added or lost values, just in the same position over time.
I once wrote a paper on progress and defined it as moving forward, growing, evolving, and improving. In all normal situations, the wish of a normal person is to grow as time ticks. This is viewed as progress, a step in the right direction. No one wants to fail or fall which is moving backwards or failing to move or moving in the opposite direction to progress.
Falling may be much harsher than failing as failure may be at a task, in a moment or on an issue but to fall is to be helplessly losing a vantage position. I took time to expand on my focus to bring my readers to understand my thought and as such tolerate my submission which may be at variance with many people’s stand.
The departure of Jesus was very disturbing to the fishermen whom he called and trained for three years. The miracle worker, the master, the messiah and the Lord was crucified, he died, was buried, resurrected, and ascended to heaven. Even though many of the disciples witnessed the ascension, with time it translated into a departure, and neglect in the minds of the followers. So, the disciples returned to their trade – Fishing; a total backslide. Jesus had to come to them and redirect the hearts of these fishermen by giving instructions to Peter to feed His sheep. John 21.
Now look at the age of the world and the stages of growth from the Stone Age to this scientific age of globalization and technology; humankind has achieved a lot and we can count our blessings and see that the Lord is good. The world has progressed and nothing has stopped human beings from moving forward and progressing. Even at the unexpected outbreak of Coronavirus, human beings progressed through Virtual Interaction to survive and developing vaccines to conquer.
It is on the pedestal of celebration and gratitude to God for victory and triumph of good over evil that we looked down and see some people tumbling down, down, and down. The world has developed good ways of governance and governing. Ruling has evolved into leading and democracy now overrides autocracy. Science is poignantly in control of our lives and living over myth, traditions, and barbarism. There is an emphasis on true freedom described as liberty and equal justice for all. Any move in the opposite of the true freedom is negative deviation and people in such boat are deemed falling.
A new situation is the case study of Nigeria in Africa. The President Buhari being the chief deviant because he cannot provide a clue to the Plane he’s piloting. Buhari is not hearing the people neither is he working with them. Buhari does not hear the voices of those raped, tortured, kidnapped, ransomed, and killed in Nigeria. Buhari resorted to ruling not leading at this age. Buhari thus fail to learn, understand or want true growth and not bothered as Nigeria goes into a free fall.
Science and technology in the society has led to developing devices of war and engagement that overrides native ways of witchcrafts and voodoos. The failure in Nigeria has compelled some sections of Nigeria to revert back to appointing and promoting the primitive ways of warfare to seek freedom. The appointing of a few voodoo men and women to confront AK47 guns and self-propelled missiles may be suicidal. Our forefathers suffered colonization and slavery because the colonial invaders and slave traders came with more sophisticated weapons. History had it that they annihilated some villages and tribes completely thus forcing the natives to surrender to the invaders. The invaders also used brutal inflictions to subdue the African Nations: Why should any society forget this?
There will be bloodshed and there will be a catalyzed fall in Nigeria soon because the die is cast. The ruler is partial, dishonest, and lackadaisical and the governors are corrupt and unpatriotic of the States they rule (not lead.) They play to the gallery, wanting to perpetuate themselves in positions for their selfish monetary gains at the expense of liberty and equal justice for all.
There was a case of a child trodden by a bigger and stronger child. The victim was crying to the mother, who angrily asked his son if he forgot to use his teeth and claws to fight the brute? The twenty-first century invaders have equipped themselves with the support of President Buhari and the African Fulani terrorists, they count on the weapons and arsenals of war from the Federal Government of Nigeria and the Arab world. But the oppressed are resolved on one and only one focus, to fight until their last breath. The resort to native intelligence, primitive ways, and voodoo may not be modern but in all wars, people develop better ways of fighting the enemies.
Buhari should know that he is guarded but not protected in all these and the hands of God go beyond the culprit to the third and fourth generations of those who perpetrate evils, Exodus 34: 7-9. My counsel to Buhari is that he returns to proffer the truth, liberty, and true justice for all citizens of Nigeria. He should stop the pending doom by restructuring Nigeria immediately. Buhari should let each Zone at Independence become autonomous, separated, and independent. Then they should formulate how to live and relate with one another. If Buhari allows the war to start, Buhari might not be alive to see the end of the war not only because he is too old, sick and fragile but because the path of war may not be faster than the path of peace.
There is not much to gain in war but so much to lose; including lives, properties, peace and sanity. But when without war a people is already suffering pestilence from another, the only way to seek justice and liberty may be by war and the oppressed might be forced to accept this last and only option. This is not a prophecy but a commonsensical and humanistic survival approach to gaining freedom, especially from a disadvantaged position.
May the beautiful Nigeria, darling of all nations, diamond in the mud be rescued from total annihilation by the connivance of government with invaders who want to vanquish the Aborigines, even in the twenty-first century.
